DISINFO: The aim of the military operation in Ukraine is to protect civilians from Kyiv
SUMMARY
On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine to "protect people who have been abused and subjected to genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years". To this end, there are plans to "demilitarise and denazify Ukraine" and to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in the Donbas.
RESPONSE
Recurring Pro-Kremlin narrative accusing the government in Kyiv of being a regime that abused and mass murdered civilians in Eastern Ukraine. The claims are presented as justification for the ongoing Russian military invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022 with multiple attacks and broad incursions from Belarus, Russian soil and from the non-government-controlled areas in Eastern Ukraine.
There is no evidence that ethnic Russians and/or Russian speakers are facing persecution at the hands of the Ukrainian authorities, much less the danger of annihilation on grounds of nationality, ethnicity, or cultural belonging. This has been confirmed by reports issued by the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OSCE. The OSCE reported no genocide in the monitored Donbas region.
The eight-year long conflict referred to in the claim was not a one-sided conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by the Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. In Eastern Ukraine almost 14,000 people died as a result of the conflict, but the Ukrainian authorities did not systematically exterminate or abuse the people living in the conflict zone.
On the other hand, since the start of the invasion, Russian forces regularly target civilian targets resulting in significant civilian casualties. Russian soldiers have committed war crimes in Ukraine, by executing hundreds of civilians in towns like Bucha. As of 18 April 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 4,966 civilian casualties in the country: 2,104 killed and 2,862 injured. Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by Russian forces with the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.
Read more disinformation narratives about Ukraine allegedly perpetrating genocide against Russians.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.